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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24744790">Stick Together (Like Glitter)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430'>kitkatt0430</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hartmonfest 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Breakups, Cisco is oblivious, Friendship, Hartley has a crush on Cisco, Hartley is hard of hearing and has trouble in loud places, Hartley is nervous about his first pride, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Pride, Roommates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:29:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24744790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Hartley's first pride and he wants it to be perfect.  Despite a few hiccups and Cisco's ongoing argument with his girlfriend, Hartley's pretty sure he enjoyed the day after all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen/Eddie Thawne, Barry Allen/Eddie Thawne/Iris West, Barry Allen/Iris West, Cisco Ramon &amp; Hartley Rathaway, Cisco Ramon/Cindy Reynolds, Cisco Ramon/Hartley Rathaway, Eddie Thawne/Iris West, Ronnie Raymond/Caitlin Snow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hartmonfest 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>HartmonFest 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stick Together (Like Glitter)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the Hartmonfest 2020 Day 6 prompt - It's Hartley's first Pride and he drags Cisco around for support</p><p>Also I apparently cannot spell 'scissors' for the life of me and even staring at the actual spelling for it will not convince my brain that's a real word.  Thank goodness for spell check.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A week before Pride month, Hartley came to the appalling realization that he had nothing appropriate to wear.</p><p>Hartley's whole wardrobe was basically clothes his parents picked out for him. All of it neat and orderly and professional looking. Like at eighteen he's already poised to take over the business.</p><p>So he's staring in horror at his closet when Cisco returned to their dorm room after finishing a shift at a nearby coffee shop.</p><p>"Please tell me there's not, like, a big ass spider in there," Cisco said, letting the door shut softly behind him before going to collapse face first on his bed.</p><p>"No spiders," Hartley confirmed.</p><p>"Gigantic roaches?"</p><p>"No roaches either. Just... boring clothing."</p><p>Cisco rolled on his side. "Dude. I've been trying to get you to wear comfy, relaxed clothes for two semesters now. Are you finally giving in and ditching the stuffy boardroom look?"</p><p>"No." Hartley paused a beat. "Maybe? I'm used to it and I don't need the added stress of changing my look right now. But I have nothing to wear to pride. If I wear that," he waved at his closet, "everyone'll think I'm just another cishet ally and not so gay it hurts." He dropped back dramatically onto his bed.</p><p>"You can always borrow some of my stuff," Cisco said. "But I don't think my cutoff shorts will fit you. Got any jeans that are too short or you don't otherwise mind sacrificing to the gods of queer fashion?" Cisco sat up as he spoke, grinning widely at Hartley.</p><p>"Um..."</p><p>"I mean, you could always just buy shorts, but there's something really special about having a DIY outfit for Pride," Cisco pressed.</p><p>Hartley sat back up too and then, tentatively, got to his feet. He pulled out a pair of jeans that was just slightly too short these days. Not so much it mattered to him, but enough his parents would make noises about it if they saw him wearing them.</p><p>Admittedly, not that he'd seen much of his parents at all since coming out as gay. They hadn't disowned him yet and were still paying for his college tuition, but they clearly didn't want him around - hence why Hartley was already signed up for the summer semester - and were apparently pretending that if they ignored his gayness it'd eventually go away.</p><p>"Alright, now you need my fabric scissors." Cisco poked around in his box of crafts and brought out a bright orange pair of sturdy fabric scissors. "Aaaand a fabric pencil in white. First, put on the jeans."</p><p>Obediently, Hartley swapped his brown slacks for the jeans.</p><p>"How short are you comfortable with?" Cisco asked, setting the scissors aside for now and twirling the pencil absently in his fingers.</p><p>Hartley gestured. A decent length so that he didn't freak out and hide instead of actually going out in them.</p><p>"Do you want to mark it or should I?" Cisco held out the pencil.</p><p>Shaking his head, Hartley told him, "I'll try to be exactly the same on both sides and this doesn't need me trying to be perfect on it."</p><p>"Alrighty," Cisco knelt down in front of Hartley and he started marking with the pencil with a dashed line approximately wear to cut.</p><p>And maybe that was an awful idea because Hartley's mouth went dry. Of all the times to be reminded he had a hot roommate...</p><p>"Next question, rips or no rips?"</p><p>"No rips," Hartley answered quickly. "But maybe we could make the ends sort of... fringe? Faux-fringe?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah, totally. I know how to pull that off easy," Cisco said with a grin. "And what about some artful fading?"</p><p>"Sure," Hartley hoped that didn't sound as strangled to Cisco as it did to him.</p><p>"Okay, out of your pants and into your PJs," Cisco commanded, standing back up.</p><p>Hartley's brain stuttered for just a moment. He swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath. And then he did as he was told. It was late, he wasn't going anywhere. No reason not to swap to his pajamas. And changing his own clothes would keep him busy enough so that his eyes didn't wander as Cisco got out of his work clothes and into his own soft, worn <em>Star Wars</em> pajama set.</p><p>"So the fun begins," Cisco said, snapping Hartley's attention back to him. The scissors were held out. "Cut along the dotted line on both legs."</p><p>Nervous, Hartley did as he was told. And he let out a little laugh as he tossed the excess fabric on the floor to clean up later. "Okay, next step?"</p><p>Cisco moved to sit beside Hartley, just shy of having their shoulders pressed up against each other, but close enough that Hartley was hyper aware of the other man's body heat.</p><p>"Okay, so to get the fabric to fringe up at the bottoms, you have to put little snips at regular intervals along the edge where you cut the legs off. Mind if I demonstrate?" Cisco grinned and held out his hands for the cutoffs and scissors.</p><p>Hartley handed them over and wished...</p><p>He wished Cisco was single. And maybe that they weren't roommates so that if Hartley did ask him out and Cisco said no, it wouldn't be quite so awkward. But they were roommates and Cisco was dating Cynthia.</p><p>So instead of saying anything, Hartley watched intently as Cisco sniped along the end of one of the legs and then carefully ruffled the fabric to make the ends fray just right. Then Cisco handed it all back. "Your turn."</p><p>Hartley mimicked Cisco's actions. Snip snip snip, rustle rustle rustle... one pair of frayed cutoff jean shorts.</p><p>"Fading them will have to wait for the weekend so we can bleach them outside and then run by the laundromat on the first floor," Cisco told him. "Now, if you're interest in further DIY-ing, for shirts I can teach you how to rainbow tie-dye a white t-shirt. We can pick up the supplies pretty cheap at Target tomorrow, though that's another one we're gonna want to do outside and run through the washing machine afterwards. Though it needs to set for... twenty-four hours I think?" He patted Hartley on the shoulder. "You're well on your way to having a very cute Pride outfit."</p><p>"Thanks, Cisco," Hartley said quietly, bumping their shoulders and feeling a lot better about the upcoming Pride Parade their campus would be holding the first weekend of June. "Tie-dying a shirt sounds like fun. We did that in my boy-scouts troop once. And by that I mostly mean we put rubber bands on the shirts but our troop leader did the actual dying because he didn't trust us to do it right."</p><p>"Ugh. Well you'll have way more fun tie-dying with my help," Cisco promised.</p>
<hr/><p>On the day of the parade, Hartley dressed up in his DIY outfit. Rainbow tie-dye shirt with "so GAY it hurts" stenciled on the front, faded cutoffs and an old pair of tennis shoes with some hilarious rainbow kitty socks that Cisco had somehow talked Hartley into when they'd gotten the tie-dye supplies. Cisco was similarly clad in pant-splattered cutoffs and a faded t-shirt with the pansexual flag painted on it, which Cisco said he'd made for a high school GSA event a few years ago.</p><p>They'd posed in front of their dorm mirror together after getting dressed and while Hartley felt weird wearing the relaxed clothing, he couldn't help but grin widely. Because he was getting to be loud and proud and gay for the first time in forever and just... he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this excited about anything.</p><p>And maybe... just maybe... adding a few comfy t-shirts to his wardrobe wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.</p><p>They met up with Barry and Caitlin before the parade in the lobby of Caitlin's dorm building, bright and early enough that even Hartley would normally want to crawl back into bed and sleep for another hour. Instead he tried to hold still despite the anticipation thrumming through him while Caitlin painted a rainbow on his cheek.</p><p>"We used these last year and they scrub off pretty well, but you're going to have to go a few rounds with the makeup remover for the darker colors this evening," she warned him as she finished painting in the last stripe. "Cisco has what you'll need. Speaking of Cisco, heads up it's your turn."</p><p>Caitlin had already put the bisexual flag on Barry's shoulder and now she was adding the pan flag to Cisco's cheek, opposite side of his face from where she'd applied Hartley's.</p><p>"Then it's your turn," Barry told Caitlin. "Trust me to pull off the demi-sexual flag or do you want the ace flag?"</p><p>"Demi," Caitlin decided after a moment. "I've been considering I might be pan too," she added, "but I just want the one flag right now. I'm not certain about the pan thing, but demi is a definite yes."</p><p>"Iris is supposed to be joining us once she's picked up Eddie from the bus station, but they won't get here for at least an hour," Barry said, sounding a touch impatient. Considering they were his girlfriend and boyfriend, Hartley couldn't really blame Barry for being anxious to see them both.</p><p>"Eddie graduates at the end of the summer, doesn't he?" Hartley asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Can't wait to have him home for good."</p><p>"Ronnie's driving one of the floats, so he'll meet up with us to wander the booths at the student union afterwards," Caitlin said, delicately tapping Cisco's nose with the end of her brush not covered in face paint when he twitched. "Stay still," she admonished. A few moments later the tapped Cisco's nose again, laughing when he twitched it and grumbled. "All done."</p><p>"So when is Cynthia going to join us?" Barry asked.</p><p>Cisco bit his lip nervously. "After the parade. She's... she'll be attending with her sorority." There was something in his tone, though.</p><p>After Barry finished Caitlin's demi-sexual flag, Caitlin went to put away her makeup bag in her dorm room - they were in the common area of her building's first floor - and Barry was almost immediately distracted by a text that was from either Iris or Eddie.  Hartley took the opportunity to move closer to Cisco and ask, "everything okay?"</p><p>"Yeah." Cisco paused a beat. "No. I don't want to talk about it now, okay?"</p><p>"Okay. But whenever you do want to talk about it... I'm a good listener." Hartley then changed the subject. "So you'll stick with me through all this, right? First Pride event I've ever gone to and I'm already anticipating being overwhelmed."</p><p>"Yeah, just don't make fun of my grammar when you need me to switch to sign language this time," Cisco joked, smiling to take any sting out of the comment.</p><p>They'd gone to a concert on the campus the month before and it had been loud enough Hartley couldn't process voices over the music very well, so Cisco had revealed he'd been secretly learning ASL.  Hartley had been touched.  And it was probably that very moment when his mild attraction to Cisco turned into a full on crush. He'd covered his sudden onslaught of feelings by teasing Cisco about his grammar, but Cisco had been able to tell how much it meant to Hartley to have a friend care enough to learn a whole new language for his sake.</p><p>"Your vocabulary has improved a lot. I really... it means a lot to me, that you're learning," Hartley told him.</p><p>"I..." Cisco's phone rang, interrupting him. He glanced at the caller id and then winced. "Sorry, it's Cynthia."</p><p>Hartley nodded and backed off a ways, giving Cisco some privacy for the call. But it seemed like maybe everything wasn't well between the previously cozy love birds. Their first real fight, maybe? They'd probably work through it; Cisco was head over heels for her.</p><p>Still, part of Hartley wished this meant they'd break up and he felt ashamed of the wistful feeling of hope that wish gave him. Only a horrible friend would want Cisco to break up with someone who made him so happy.</p>
<hr/><p>The parade was gorgeous. There were a lot of floats and Hartley could really only identify half the school organization that were running them. The school orchestra marched along, proving that none of them had lost any skill from the various marching bands they must've been in during high school. And there was a string quartet each sporting the queer chevron on their t-shirts. Not to forget that there were people marching along with signs and flags for more queer identities than Hartley even knew existed, which was absolutely beautiful to see all grouped together in chaotic harmony.</p><p>There were so many signs everywhere and so many identities represented that Hartley felt like the whole event was blurring together into an overwhelming wash of color and sound by the time it finished passing their group by. He clung to Cisco's arm for a good portion of the parade and he probably should have ducked out at some point to avoid being overstimulated, because when it was all over he was dazed for a while afterwards and needed to sit quietly in the nearby library until his ears stopped ringing.</p><p>Cisco hovered worriedly until Hartley flicked him on the nose, plying Hartley with extra water bottles and exhibiting his mother hen streak. Caitlin mother henned some too, but she was less concerned once she confirmed Hartley wasn't dehydrated, just overwhelmed.</p><p>"Hartley knows better than we do what he needs to settle himself back down," Caitlin told Cisco. "Any word from Iris and Eddie?" she asked Barry.</p><p>"Eddie's running a little late. I've been texting them both pictures of the parade," Barry replied. "How about Ronnie?"</p><p>"I've let him know to meet us here first," Caitlin answered, "we can head to the student union and decide on lunch once Hartley's feeling better."</p><p>"You doing okay?" Cisco asked, hands signing along with his spoken words, tense with concern.</p><p>"I'm fine, really. I might want to bring some earplugs along the next time I go to a parade and find a quiet place to retreat to for short breaks, but I really don't regret seeing the whole thing through this time." Hartley grinned. "It was awesome. Once Ronnie gets here, let's head to the student union."</p><p>Which was exactly what they did.</p><p>The student union was done up in pride colors and glitter everywhere. In minutes it was all over their hair - much to Cisco's consternation - thanks to a glitter fight happening on the main floor. They edged further in past the various activities to where there were booths selling merch. Hartley couldn't resist a rainbow scarf and an "I'm so GAY today" pin set.</p><p>There was no sign of Cynthia, however, and Cisco kept distractedly checking his phone. Eventually though, he stowed the phone away in a pocket and announced that Cynthia had invited them to join her sorority for lunch. He looked vaguely annoyed, but he brightened when they all agreed and headed out to the on campus pub.</p><p>Their group ended up taking up two long tables in the back of the restaurant and, for the first time that day, Hartley found himself parted from Cisco. Cisco managed to snag a chair beside his girlfriend while Ronnie and Caitlin sat off to the side with someone Caitlin knew from class and Barry, Iris, and Eddie commandeered the end of one of the tables where they could all hear and see each other easily. That left Hartley sitting uncertainly between two sorority sisters he'd never met before.</p><p>The ladies were nice enough - Annie was proudly gay and also attending a Pride event for the first time while Stacy was questioning her gender - and were kind enough to include Hartley in the conversation. But he was rapidly approaching the end of his ability to tolerate social situations, especially now that he was on his own.</p><p>Hartley could only manage about half his lunch before his appetite failed him and he started picking at his fries. It didn't help that the restaurant was loud enough that he was having difficulty parsing voices again. It was all just noise and none of the ladies sitting around him knew sign language. Well, Annie knew a handful of signs and finger-spelling. But having to spell out every word for even a small exchange exhausting and unnecessarily drawn out.</p><p>So eventually he just sort of pulled in on himself and started considering heading back to his dorm for the rest of the afternoon. There were some parties around campus - and after parties planned for the evening - but Hartley wasn't going to be able to have any fun if the only person in his friend group who could sign was too busy with his girlfriend to help Hartley avoid feeling like he was drowning in a sea of sound.</p><p>Right as he was about to get up and let the others know he wasn't feeling well, a hand landed on Hartley's shoulder and he jumped.</p><p>Cisco peered down at him in concern. "I called your name," he said, signing at the same time, "it's too loud in here for you, isn't it?"</p><p>Hartley nodded. "I was actually about to head back to the dorm."</p><p>"I'll go with you," Cisco told him.</p><p>Relief relaxed Hartley's shoulders a bit and he smiled. "Thanks." They both said a quick goodbye to their friends and they promised to text later and catch up with them at whatever party the five of them decided to head to that afternoon. And then Hartley and Cisco headed out of the pub and into the sunshine.</p><p>The whole campus was still bustling with activity, though, full of rainbows and glitter and impromptu performance art. Hartley loved every second, the walk back to the dorm restoring some of the energy that the pub visit had drained from him.</p><p>"Feeling better?" Cisco asked as he used his student id to let them into the building.</p><p>Hartley nodded. "Like you said, it was too loud. All the sound was blending together and starting to give me a headache. It was too much too soon after the parade. And no one knew ASL. Annie tried, but finger-spelling doesn't really cut it and trying to include me was just slowing their conversation down unnecessarily."</p><p>Cisco raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed.</p><p>"I wasn't interested in their conversation, so their attempts to include me were polite but not necessary," Hartley elaborated, feeling a touch amused as Cisco rolled his eyes.</p><p>"I'm sorry I didn't sit with you in there. Then you'd have had someone to sign with."</p><p>"I can't exactly fault you for wanting to sit with your girlfriend," Hartley protested. "And it was fine."</p><p>"I promised to stick with you today. I should have pushed harder to get you a seat near me." Cisco sighed and started playing with his lovely, long hair. A sure sign of anxious thoughts. Though it was funny to see his grimace when reminded his pretty hair still had glitter in it.</p><p>"Is something wrong with you and Cynthia?" Hartley asked.</p><p>"Maybe." Cisco shrugged. "We want different things and she's two years older than me. I didn't think the age difference would be such a big deal but sometimes she treats me like I'm still a kid. And... she's completely changed her career plans without discussing it with me. I'm not... I'm not trying to say she should have asked my permission or something."</p><p>Hartley hadn't been thinking that at all, which probably meant it was something Cynthia had accused him of.</p><p>"But we're supposed to be equals in this relationship so I should get forewarned about decisions that could affect our relationship on her end, right? Like say, her decision to go to Quantico instead of the police academy, which will make our relationship a long distance relationship." Cisco let out a shaky breath. "And even if the long distance thing wasn't an issue, deciding to change your career path is the sort of thing you're supposed to discuss with your boyfriend so that he can be supportive, right? It's not something the boyfriend should be the last one to hear about and certainly not because one of her sorority sisters accidentally spilled the beans."</p><p>Cisco sounded angry and Hartley winced. "Yeah, she screwed up," Hartley confirmed.</p><p>"Thank you. She doesn't agree. Her sorority sisters apparently took my side when she vented to them, so she did that thing where she apologized while simultaneously not apologizing." Cisco crinkled his nose. "I don't want a long distance relationship and she knows it and that's why she didn't..."</p><p>When Cisco didn't finish his thought, Hartley asked, "what are you going to do?"</p><p>"I have no idea. She asked me to transfer to a school near Quantico but... I don't know if there are any good schools for mechanical engineering in the area and even if there are I don't..." Cisco shook his head. "I need time to think. And I don't want to think about it any more today."</p><p>Hartley nodded. It was an uncomfortable position Cynthia had put Cisco in. But not exactly uncommon among college students either. "If there's anything I can do, let me know," he said. "But I do still have a headache from the pub, so... I'm going to try to nap for a while. See if the quiet helps."</p><p>"A nap actually sounds like a good idea." Cisco relaxed a bit and they finally headed up to the quiet of their dorm room.</p>
<hr/><p>Around three o'clock, Hartley decided he was ready to head back out for a party. So he and Cisco found out where their friends had gone to party and headed over. It was as loud as the pub in its own way, but the beat of the music seemed to thrum through Hartley's chest and grounded him. And it turned out he wasn't totally dependent on Cisco for help following the conversation. Iris had apparently learned in high school and, though rusty at first, she remembered a great deal more than she'd initially thought. Eddie was also learning sign language, sheepishly muttering something about how better communication skills would make him a better cop down the line.</p><p>Cynthia caught up with them again, though, and she and Cisco stepped out for a while. A long while, in fact. When they came back, things seemed easier between the two and Hartley couldn't help but wonder if Cynthia had given Cisco a better apology.</p><p>Hartley put it out of his mind, though, and let himself loosen up a little more than normal, even enjoying a cup of spiked punch before switching back to water bottles. He flirted with a few guys and even got one guy's number.</p><p>But Hartley was definitely not a night owl and by the time the afternoon parties began shifting into after parties that evening, he headed back to the dorm with Cisco planning to order some pizza once they got there.</p><p>"So, enjoy your first pride events even though it got super loud a lot?" Cisco asked as they watched the sun dip closer towards a sunset.</p><p>"Yeah, it was great. Though I'm glad I brought my earplugs to the parties." Hartley had put them away already, but it'd been a relief to blunt out the worst of the noise. "How did things go when you spoke to Cynthia earlier? You both seemed a lot easier around each other after you rejoined us."</p><p>"Cynthia apologized again. She... well it doesn't really matter, it was a good apology and I'm pretty sure she gets it this time. And we talked for a while about what we both want for our futures... and I was right about us wanting very different things. Incompatible things. So we, um... we broke up." Cisco paused a beat there, letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm really glad we cleared the air beforehand because even if we don't stay in touch once she leaves for training in the fall, at least for the next few months we'll still be able to spend time together as friends." Cisco smiled, a wistful expression. "I've just broken up in a healthy and mature manner... and it still totally sucks."</p><p>"Sorry, Cisco," Hartley slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. "So... the city's got a couple of pride events spaced out over the next two weeks. Want to see if there are any we'd both enjoy?"</p><p>Cisco grinned widely. "Think you're up for another parade?"</p>
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